Frame anchor hook device

ABSTRACT

The invention comprises an anchoring device for straightening out automobile frames. The anchoring device has an L-shaped hook mounted to the top of the device for hooking into a bore in the frame. The device has a socket at its lower end for receiving an end of a telescoping jack. The socket also has a slot therein for receiving a link of an anchoring chain. The anchoring device may be employed in pairs by being hooked into bores in the frame on opposite sides of an area of the frame to be straightened out and either the telescoping jack may be placed with its ends in the socket of the devices and are end of the jack telescoped outward to straighten out the frame by spreading the hook devices apart or alternatively anchoring chains may be hooked into the slots in the sockets of each device, and we of the anchoring chains secured and the other pulled away in an opposite direction to spread the anchoring devices apart to straighten out the frame.

United States Patent [191 Ballweber June 25, 1974 [54] FRAME ANCHOR HOOKDEVICE [57] ABSTRACT [76] Inventor; Duane C. Ballweber, R R N 3, Theinvention comprises an anchoring device for Wahpeton, N, Dak. 58075straightening out automobile frames. The anchoring v device has anL-shaped hook mounted to the top of [22] 1972 the device for hookinginto a bore in the frame. The [21] Appl, No; 233,230 device has a socketat its lower end for receiving an end of a telescoping jack. The socketalso has a slot therein for receiving a link of an anchoring chain. The[5%] IU.S.(gl. 72/4'ig6z, 712/170; anchoring device may be employed inpairs by being [5 I'lt. 1 hooked into bores in the frame on pp sides ofan Fleld of Search area f the frame to be straightened out and eitherthe telescoping jack may be placed with its ends in the [56] Referencescued socket of the devices and are end of the jack tele- UNITED STATESPATENTS scoped outward to straighten out the frame by spread- 2,708,3805/1955 Mais 72/705 ing the hook devices apart or alternatively anchoring3,091,983 6/l963 Kliss v 72/705 chains may be hooked into the slots inthe sockets of l L 11/1963 72/705 each device, and we of the anchoringchains secured L d p and the other pulled away in-an opposite directionto an on 3,631,705, 1/1972 McCaffrey 72/293 22 3: 32 anchormg demesapart to Stra'ghte" out 3,641,805 2/1972 Reinke 72/705 7 I 2 Claims, 6Drawing Figures Primary Examiner-Charles W. Lanham Assistant Examiner-M..l. Keenan Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Robert E. Kleve 24 ll 35 24 22 26 h2" 22 n/ l f1 4 33 PATENTED JUN 2 5 1974 1 FRAME ANCHOR HOOK DEVICE Thisinvention relates to frame straightening apparatus.

It is an object of the invention to provide a novel frame straighteninganchor hook device which may be quickly used in pairs to hook into theframe to be straightened at spaced locations and also be attached to afloor tie down or receive a power jack therebetween to thereby serve asanchoring points for applying force for straightening the frame.

It is another object of the invention to provide a novel framestraightening anchor hook device which has a slot for detachablyreceiving the hooks of an anchoring tie down chain and which also formsa socket for receiving the ends of a power jack and which also has ahook for detachable engagement in a bore in the frame for attachment ofthe anchor hook device to a frame for straightening the frame.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent asthe description proceeds and when taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of twoof the anchor hook inventionemployed with a power jack therebetween for straightening a frame.

FIG. 2 is a left side elevational view of one of the anchor hookinventions shown mounted in a bore of a frame.

FIG. 3 is a right side elevational view of one of the anchor hookinventions shown mounted in a bore of a frame.

'FIG. 4 is a top plan view of one of the anchor hook inventions.

FIG. 5 is a front elevational view of one of the anchor hook inventions.

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view of two of the anchor hook inventionsbeing employed with a pair of anchor hooks chains attached thereto forstraightening a frame.

Briefly stated, the invention comprises an anchor hook invention havingan L-shaped hook mounted to the top thereof for hooking into a bore in aframe, the hook device has a socket like construction at its lower endfor receiving an end of telescoping power jack and a slot in the socketfor alternatively receiving a link of an anchoring chain whereby theanchor hook may be employed in pairs by being hooked into bores in theframe on opposite sides of the area of the frame to be straightened andeither a power jack may be placed with its ends in the socket of theanchor hook devices and telescoping for straightening the frame byspreading the anchor hooks apart, or anchoring chains may be hook intothe slots of the hook devices and one of the anchor chains secured andthe other chain pulled away to the opposite direction to spread theanchor hooks apart for straightening the frame.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, theanchor hook invention is illustrated. In FIG. 1 a pair of anchoring hookinventions 20 are illustrated mounted at locations 21 and 21 on a frame22. The frame 22 is a conventional automobile frame which has been bentout of place at locations 23.

The anchor hook invention 20 has an L-shaped rod or hook member 24 and asocket portion 25. The socket portion 25 has a top plate 26 with one leg24' of the L-shaped rod welded at its end to the top plate 26. Aninclined plate portion 27 inclines rearwardly and downwardly from thetop plate portion and has a reversely curved lower end portion 28. Anelongated slot 29 extends centrally along the reversely curved lower endportion 28 and upwardly into the inclined plate portion 27 andterminates at the lateral edge 30. The lower end 31 of the slot is openat the forward edge 32 and 32' of the reversely curved portion 28 toprovide access into the slot 29. A pair of side plates 33 and 33' arewelded to the side edges 26 and 26" of the top plate 27' and 27 of theinclined plate portion and 28 and 28" of the reversely curved lower endportion.

The L-shaped rod has its one leg 24 extending perpendicularly upward andits other leg 24" extending horizontally forward at a slight downwardlyinclined angle in relation to the leg 24'.

OPERATION The anchor hook invention 20 operates as follows:

Assume for purposes of illustration that the anchor hook invention isbeing employed with a conventional telescoping power jack 34, asillustrated in FIG. 2. The operator will drill a pair of holes 35 in theframe on opposite sides of the bent portion 23 of the frame 22. Theholes 35 will be of a size as illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. Whereuponthe operator will insert the lateral leg 24" of the L-shaped rod intothe bore 35 in the frame 22 and pivot the anchor hook up until the topsurface 26 of the top plate abutts theunder surface 22 of the frame andthe forward end of the leg 24 abutts the inner surface 22" of the framewith the leg 24 being bent downward slightly at an angle toward theinner surface 22 of the frame, in relation to leg 24' and the top plate26, so as to lock the anchor hook its portion shown in FIGS. 2 and 3when either the telescoping jacks or the anchor chain apply pressure tothe anchoring device 20.

Once the anchor hooks 20 have been inserted into the bores 35 in theframe, the telescoping jack 34 will be installed as illustrated in FIG.1 with one end 34 of the jack in the socket area or trough of socketmember 25: 36 of the anchor hook invention 20 and the other end 34" ofthe jack in the socket area or trough 36 of the other anchor hookinvention 20. The one end 34" of the jack will be telescoped outwardrelative to the sleeve portion 37 of the jack and the other end 34' ofthe jack causing the anchor hook 20 to spread apart, thereby spreadingthe rear 38 and 39 of the frame 22 apart until the bent areas 23 of theframe are straightened out to their original position.

Whereupon, the operator will retract the leg 34" of the jack hooks intothe sleeve 37 a sufficient distance to enable the ends 34' and 34" ofthe jack to be removed from the sockets in the anchor hooks 20, and theanchor hooks 20will be removed from the bores 35 in the frame bypivoting and sliding the legs 24" of the rods 24 of the anchor hooks 20out of the bores 35 in the frame 22.

When the operator employs the anchor hook invention 20 with link anchorchains 39 and 40 as illustrated in FIG. 6, the operation will be asfollows:

Bores 35 will be drilled into the frame 22 at location 42 and 41 onopposite sides of the bent area 23, and the frame 22 will be placed on ablock 43 at location 44 on the frame.

The anchor hook invention 20 will be hooked into the frame 22 atlocations 41 and 42, with the anchor 20 at location 41 being hooked intoa bore 35 of the bottom of the frame, and another anchor hooked atlocation 42 being hooked into a bore 35 in the vertical side of theframe, at location 42 in the same manner as already described. Theanchor hook device 20 at location 42 will have its open bottom 45 facinghorizontally outward, as illustrated in FIG. 6. Whereas the anchor hookdevice 20 at location 41 will have its open bottom 45 facing downward asalso illustrated in FIG. 6.

Once the anchor hooks have been attached to the frame the operator willattach an upper link 39' into the socket of the anchor chain 39 bysliding the next adjacent and lower link 39" endwise into the slot 29 asshown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the upper link 39 will extend crosswiseacross the slot 29 and abut against the inner surface in the socket 36of the anchor device to lock the anchor chain 39 to the anchor hook 20at location 41. The lower end 39 chain is firmly fixed to a cement floor46 by a pin 47.

Similarly the upper link 40' of the chain 40 will be received in thesocket 36 of the anchor device 20 at location 42 by sliding the nextadjacent lower link 40" endwise into the slot 29, and the upper linkwill extend across the slot 29 and abut the inner surface in the socket36 of the anchor device 20 as illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 6 to lock theanchor chain 40 to the anchor hook 20 at location 42. The chain 40 willextend outward away from the anchor device 20 and will be attached tothe telescoping rod 49 of a power jack 50.

The jack 50 has a sleeve 51 for the rod 49 to telescope hydraulicallyinward and outward. The sleeve 51 will be fixed to an upright post 52and the post 52 will be fixed to the cement floor 46. Whereupon theoperator will retract the rod 49 into the sleeve 51 hydraulicallycausing the chain 40 to move in the direction of the arrow 53 and pullthe anchor device 20 at the location 42 in the same direction therebypullying the area of the frame 22 at location 42 in the same direction.

Since the other chain 39 is fixed to the cement floor it will restrainthe anchoring device at location 41 and prevent it and the frame atlocation 41 from moving. Thus causing the anchoring devices 20 atlocations 41 and 42 to spread apart, thus spreading the frame 22 atlocation 41 and 42 apart and causing the bent area 23 of the frame 22 tobe straightened out.

When the rod 49 has been retracted sufficiently to straightened out theframe. The operator will then telescope the rod 29 back out of thesleeve 51 a sufficient distance to enable the chairs 39 and 40 to bedetached from the anchor hook 20 at location 41 and 42 by sliding thelinks 39" and 40" out of the slots 29 in the anchoring devices 20.

The anchoring devices 20 may be used in a variety of similar ways witheither the power jack or anchor chains to straighten frames as justdescribed at various locations on the frames. In some instances bore 35already exist in the automobile frame 22 which may be employed withoutthe necessity of specially drilling the hole.

Thus it will be seen that a novel anchoring invention has been providedfor easily and quickly straightening automobile frames.

It will be obvious that various changes and departures may be made tothe invention without departing from the spirit thereof, andaccordingly, it is not intended that the invention be limited to thatspecifically described in the specification or as illustrated in thedrawing but only as set forth in the appended claims wherein:

I claim:

1. A pair of anchoring devices for straightening a vehicle frame,wherein a pair of bores are provided in said frame on opposite sides ofthe area of the frame to be straightened, said pair of anchoring deviceseach comprising an L-shaped hook and a socket member, said socket memberhaving a trough portion with a top wall portion extending away from saidtrough portion and connected thereto, said L-shaped hook having one legfixed to said top wall portion, each of said socket members having aslot extending into the trough portion of a width to receive one link ofa link chain only in edgewise relation to lock said chain to said troughportion, said L-shaped hooks of said devices being adapted to have itsother leg inserted into said bores in said frame so as to project alongthe inside surface of said frame in a hooked engagement with the frame,whereby either a telescoping jack may have its telescoping ends socketedin said troughs of the sockets of said devices and telescoped outward toforce the ends of the jack to engage against the trough portions of thedevices to force and spread the sockets away from one another with thehooks in the frame forcing the frame in the area of the bores to spreadapart from one another to straighten the frame, or a pair of link chainsmay have one of their links at their one ends inserted edgewise into theslots of the trough portions of the sockets of the devices to lock thechains to the sockets and the other ends of the chains pulled away fromone another to spread the frame apart in the area of the bores of theframe to straighten the frame.

2. A pair of anchoring devices according to claim 1, wherein said troughportion of said socket member has an opening at one end opening in onedirection to receive said one end of said telescoping jack, said one legof said L-shaped hook extends upward away from said top wall section ina direction toward said frame to extend into said bore of said frame,said other leg of said hook extends forward in the same generaldirection as said opening in said trough member and inclines slightlydownward toward a plane passing through said top wall section.

1. A pair of anchoring devices for straightening a vehicle frame,wherein a pair of bores are provided in said frame on opposite sides ofthe area of the frame to be straightened, said pair of anchoring deviceseach comprising an L-shaped hook aNd a socket member, said socket memberhaving a trough portion with a top wall portion extending away from saidtrough portion and connected thereto, said L-shaped hook having one legfixed to said top wall portion, each of said socket members having aslot extending into the trough portion of a width to receive one link ofa link chain only in edgewise relation to lock said chain to said troughportion, said L-shaped hooks of said devices being adapted to have itsother leg inserted into said bores in said frame so as to project alongthe inside surface of said frame in a hooked engagement with the frame,whereby either a telescoping jack may have its telescoping ends socketedin said troughs of the sockets of said devices and telescoped outward toforce the ends of the jack to engage against the trough portions of thedevices to force and spread the sockets away from one another with thehooks in the frame forcing the frame in the area of the bores to spreadapart from one another to straighten the frame, or a pair of link chainsmay have one of their links at their one ends inserted edgewise into theslots of the trough portions of the sockets of the devices to lock thechains to the sockets and the other ends of the chains pulled away fromone another to spread the frame apart in the area of the bores of theframe to straighten the frame.
 2. A pair of anchoring devices accordingto claim 1, wherein said trough portion of said socket member has anopening at one end opening in one direction to receive said one end ofsaid telescoping jack, said one leg of said L-shaped hook extends upwardaway from said top wall section in a direction toward said frame toextend into said bore of said frame, said other leg of said hook extendsforward in the same general direction as said opening in said troughmember and inclines slightly downward toward a plane passing throughsaid top wall section.